Marking the arrival of Virginia's first Africans in 1619

Portuguese slave trading fort known as Elmina

Courtesy of the JAMESTOWN-YORKTOWN EDUCATIONAL TRUST

The Portuguese slave trading fort at Elmina off the West Coast of Africa may have played a role in the capture and transport of the first Africans known to arrive in Virginia. This image was originally published by Dutch mapmakers of the period.

The Portuguese slave trading fort at Elmina off the West Coast of Africa may have played a role in the capture and transport of the first Africans known to arrive in Virginia. This image was originally published by Dutch mapmakers of the period. (Courtesy of the JAMESTOWN-YORKTOWN EDUCATIONAL TRUST)

Mark St. John Erickson, merickson@dailypress.com | 757-247-4783

Nearly 400 years after colonist John Rolfe recorded their arrival, the first known Africans in the English-speaking New World remain shrouded in mystery.

Was their arrival in August of 1619 really the first, especially considering that the Portuguese and the Spanish had been transporting slaves to the Caribbean and South America by the thousands for more than 100 years?

And though it's virtually certain that the ship on which they were transported after their capture in the Gulf of Mexico stopped at Old Point Comfort, did they even step onto land before their transfer to their new masters at Jamestown?

Thanks to a 2003 study led by Williamsburg historian Martha McCartney, the locations of the Jamestown Island properties where many of the original "20. and odd Negroes" from the English privateer ship White Lion first toiled can be pinpointed with some accuracy.

It's also clear that the number of Africans in Virginia remained relatively small for many decades -- even after about 100 more arrived at the colony's capital in 1628.

But over the past decade or so, the focus of most of the events marking the historic beginning of the African addition to American culture has shifted from Jamestown to Old Point Comfort and Hampton.

That's where a series of programs will be held today through Aug. 20 in observance of the anniversary of the first landing.

Organized by Project 1619 Inc., the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, the Contraband Historical Society, the Hampton History Museum and The Sankofa Projects as well as the City of Hampton, the third annual African Landing Day Commemoration begins at 7 p.m. tonight with the world premiere of a documentary film produced by the government of Angola, from which the first Africans in Virginia are believed to have been taken (Hampton History Museum, 120 Old Hampton Lane, Hampton, free).

The program will be followed on Saturday by two events, including a panel discussion titled “The Preservation of African History and Culture in Colonial America” (10 a.m-3 p.m. American Theatre, 125 Mellen St., Hampton, Free) and a "Virginia Juneteenth Jazz & Heritage Reconciliation & Healing Concert" (6-8:30 p.m. American Theatre, $20).

The commemoration will continue Tuesday, Aug. 20, with a "World Day of Reconciliation & Healing from the Legacy of Enslavement Prayer Service" (noon, near Continental Park, Fort Monroe, free) and a "Ritual Day of Remembrance" performance by The Sankofa Projects featuring a libation, drumming, and dancers (7 p.m., near Continental Park, free).

For more information, go to www.project1619.com, www.juneteenthjazz.com or contact Calvin Pearson at 757-380-1319 or Rev. Ron Meyers at 662-392-2016.